County passes laxer mandate for doctor's note

Friday, Oct. 23, 2009

In an effort to keep their employees healthy and government business running smoothly despite the threat of the H1N1 flu, the Charles County commissioners approved a policy change Tuesday which excuses the requirement of county employees to obtain a physician's note for a three-day or more absence due to illness.

The hope, said Stephen Brayman, director of human resources, is to avoid undue strain on both healthy and infected employees and not create a countywide panic.

"We need to view [this policy change] as just an added precaution," Brayman said Wednesday, when asked about the fallout from the global pandemic reaching the community. "It doesn't necessarily translate to people should be more concerned."

The five commissioners, however, have expressed concern about the probable spread of the H1N1 influenza virus — the swine flu — through Southern Maryland since the summer reports of growing infection.

Since then, even discussions about budget cuts have addressed the topic of a health crisis and leaving enough funding for area health agencies to function.

The policy change was prompted by a briefing earlier this month from William Stephens, director of emergency services, who suggested the commissioners consider the relaxation of human resources requirements to discourage sick employees from coming into work and prevent relatively healthy individuals falling more ill after a visit to the doctor.

Brayman said the policy modifications are modeled on the changes made to the personnel policy of the state government last month.

A letter from Maryland's Department of Budget and Management dated Sept. 17 indicates state employees are now operating under Level II of the pandemic leave policy, which can include staggered shifts, teleworking and more flexible expectations when a staff member returns to work after an illness.

Though only the flexibility for the physicians' notes was officially implemented at the commissioners' meeting, Brayman introduced several policy levels for consideration — similar to the state's — that could be used under ordinary circumstances or if the pandemic grows worse than expected.

The three levels encompass strategies from just requiring sick employees to leave work, all the way up to a skeleton staff of essential personnel if too many fall ill.

"We have prepared and trained for a pandemic, but we've never had to take action," Cooper said. "We want to be smart and be proactive with the things we're trying to do."

Cooper said the commissioners trained for a pandemic about three years ago, and there's been instruction within other departments, including emergency services.

msomers@somdnews.com